Hello and welcome to the Ostrome Update COVID-19, a podcast on the COVID-19 pandemic with

Dr. Michael Ostrome.

Dr. Ostrome is an internationally recognized medical detective and director of the Center

for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or CITRAP, at the University of Minnesota.

In this podcast, Dr. Ostrome will draw on more than 45 years of experience investigating

infectious disease outbreaks to provide straight talk on the COVID-19 pandemic.

I'm Chris Dahl, reporter for CITRAP News, and I'm your host for these conversations.

Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Ostrome Update Podcast.

With the third COVID summer rapidly approaching, the US is experiencing a rather bumpy ride

on the path to the new normal.

The COVID-19 cases are rising across the country, and most experts agree that the true number

of cases is likely much, much higher.

anecdotally it seems hard to find people who haven't had COVID recently.

It's not shaping up to be the COVID-free summer many of us were hoping for.

We may very well be in another viral blizzard, just like we were in December and January,

and that means more severe illness and deaths are coming.

At the same time, neither hospitalizations, ICU admissions, nor deaths appear to be rising

and to rate anywhere near where they were in the winter.

And when you look around, no matter where you are in the country, it seems like many people

have moved on, that the threat of COVID-19 has become an acceptable risk for many for

the return to normal life.

Is this what the new normal looks like?

...